Thursday, October 30, 2014

The end is near and, I for one, am very much looking forward
to it. No, I’m not taking about the end of the planet or life as we know it.

I’m referring to the endless, opponent bashing political ads
that are bombarding us from all sides whether it’s print, television, radio or
social media. The election is less than a week away and it seems that every available
ad space is being used to tilt the scale in favor of one opponent or the other.

Come November 5, we can all take a collective sigh of relief
as life becomes less filled with political rhetoric that few, if anyone, truly
wants to listen to.

I agree, the candidates all need to have the opportunity to
get their message across. However, do we really need the endless bombardment of
negative ads from various Political Action Committee (PAC) groups, a great many
from outside the state, trying to influence the way Wisconsinites vote? What
does someone from Texas, California or Washington D.C. truly know about what’s
best for the citizens of Wisconsin?

No matter your politics, I think we would be better served
to have the candidates square off in more debates, whereby the audience,
viewers and/or listeners can get a better impression for who they want to
support. It would also be great to see the candidates spend more time hosting
community meetings and small group listening sessions. Yes, it may be a bit
naïve or “old school” in today’s money driven political landscape, but it sure
would be nice.

Do you feel you know enough about your candidate to make a
good decision at the ballot? Will you be happy to have a break from the
political ads, at least until the presidential election gets underway? And
finally, what have you done to get away from the political noise – did you read
a good book, watch movies or simply sit in a dark room by yourself?

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

The end of
2014 is closing in fast (yikes!). Now is the time for your business to conduct
a review of the current PR plan and draft a strategy for 2015 so you can start
the New Year right.As you prepare
for 2015, keep these ideas in mind:

Don’t feel you have to start
from scratch. Review your current plan to find out what worked, what
didn’t and what you didn’t have time to do. Some of the ideas and tactics
may be able to be rolled over into next year’s plan.

Review what the company has on
deck for next year. Note any big events, product launches, expansions or
milestones as these may be great PR opportunities. Determine if these are
newsworthy items in advance so you have time to plan ways to attract local
media.

Make sure your website is
current. This is especially true if you are driving social media traffic
to your website. If content is out of date, links are broken or images are
old, add “refresh website” to the PR plan.

Note opportunities for using
images and video. Image sharing is huge. If you want to make an impact,
especially to your online audience, you’ll want to post content with photo
and/or video. Remember to keep the videos short and relevant to your post.

Develop or update the company
media kit and send it to local media outlets so they know they can tap
into your expertise for any stories. Make hard and electronic copies.

You’re
going to put a lot of work into developing a PR plan for your company – so make
sure you use it! Note outcomes as the year progresses so you have helpful
feedback when it comes time to develop a new plan. Does anyone have suggestions
on developing a PR plan? Share your ideas!

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

A new study from the University of Houston (UH) says readers
remember more from newspapers than online. That’s an interesting finding given
that more and more people are looking to the Internet for their daily news.

It’s no secret that I still look to the printed newspaper
each morning to start my day. But I’m also among those who read online news
sources at other times of the day. Do I remember more from my morning newspaper
reading habit? That’s certainly up for debate.

The UH researchers used two groups of students who were told
to avoid reading news stories for a period of time. They were then instructed
to read the New York Times for 20 minutes – one group reading stories from the
print version, the other browsing the NYT website. The study found that those who
read the print version remembered an average of 4.24 news stories a short time
later, while the online readers remembered 3.35 stories.

The lead author of the study, Professor Arthur Santana, says
there could be a number of reasons. He notes that there are more distractions
in the online version. The online story placement and prominence are always
changing so readers may be less apt to register which are the important stories
of the day. He notes that the print newspaper is generally dedicated mostly to
news and print readers may be more methodical.

The UH study was done to help newspapers become more aware
of the differences in reading news online versus in print. It will be
interesting to see if those who lead news operations are able to capitalize on
these findings as the newspaper business continues to evolve.

What do you think? How often do you read a printed
newspaper? Do you remember more when you read something in print as opposed to
online?

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Let’s face it…most of us are “connected” 24/7 these
days.Do you even remember what it felt
like not to have your phone next to you all day, every day? Do we really need
to be connected all the time?I can hear
the shouting right now, “yes, Yes, YES!”

O.K., I hear you. I’m one of you. BUT, after starting to
feel like there was a never a break, I have been making a concerted effort to
have some “disconnect” time lately.No
phone. No iPad. No laptop.That means no
Twitter, no Facebook, no email and no news. No calls from family, friends and
clients alike (at least until I turn the phone back on). Yikes! Just the
thought of that could put me in a panic.

But I have found that occasionally unplugging has been a
really good thing.I try for a couple of
hours a week, usually on Sundays.What
do I DO on those days/times? Enjoy the quiet and think about everything or
nothing; go for a walk; listen to music; read a book; clean a closet –
uninterrupted. (That might seem odd, but for someone who really likes being
organized, a clean closet is heavenly!).Now, mind you, I’m not at the point where I could go all day without
being connected but, even for a few hours, it turns out to be a really good
thing.It’s relaxing and, in many ways,
rejuvenating.Turns out, I never really
miss anything. Eventually, I go back online and catch up with the calls, emails
and news. Just like always.

So before you think or say you can’t possibly disconnect, I
challenge you to try it.You might be
surprised how much you actually like it!